Mabel Discusses Top 10 Hits and Staying True to Herself

Today's Brand New for 2018 spotlight falls on the supremely talented Mabel. The star has been making a buzz ever since 2015 but last year saw her score her first Top 10 hit 'Finders Keepers' and 2018 looks set to be the biggest year of her career yet.

In an exclusive interview, Mabel opened up to us about the charts and holding her own in a male-dominated industry.

Mabel may be the child of two famous stars (singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry and huge producer Cameron McVey) but she had no intention on relying on their success to become a star. She wanted to make a name for herself through her talent alone.

"I moved from Stockholm to London and I didn't want to work with my parents or have them help me in any way. I think just to prove to myself that I have my own talent. I just harrassed loads of managers until they gave me a meeting." she discussed.

"I put a song on Soundcloud and Annie Mac made it record of the week and a month later I signed my record deal."

Not too shabby. We wish that we were so talented that we could just upload a song to the internet and get signed.

Speaking about the huge success of 'Finders Keepers', Mabel revealed: "I think it's my favourite song that I've released so far but I didn't think that I was going to have my first Top 10 with it." She then added: "We wrote the whole track in 45 minutes."

In terms of songwriting, Mabel mentioned: "I'm pretty much writing all the time." She then teased her new music by letting us know: "A lot of my upcoming tracks, which are more uptempo, really draw from afrobeats." We cannot wait to hear them all.

As for producing her songs, Mabel admitted: "Producing isn't my favourite bit about what I do but the fact that I know how to do it gives me this sense of power in situations that are super male-dominated." Yes Mabel. Wear that girl power with pride.

Mabel ended the interview with an important message: "My mum always says to me 'Never let them change you'".

Considering that Mabel has a very strong sense of self so early on in her career, she's taken her Mum's advice.

We have no doubt that it will serve her well for years to come and she will be a big inspiration to all of her fans.

To vote for Mabel to win MTV Brand New For 2017, like the Instagram image below...

11 Things You Need to Know About Mabel

Mabel is a singer-songwriter who describes herself as "English, Swedish and Sierra Leonean". She says that "being mixed race is something [she] used to see as an obstacle but now [she] see[s] it as a beautiful thing".